Eighth+Welsh+4

=__Eighth Amendment__=

"Excessive Bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
The Eighth Amendment was ratified on December 15th, 1791. It was put into place to prevent the government from unfairly punishing defendants and criminals before and after trial. The first part of the Amendment deals with excessive fines and excessive bail. This bans the government from placing excessively high fines on individuals convicted of a crime. The fine that the government gives has to fit the crime that the person committed. By limiting excessive bail, the Eighth Amendment prevents people from being unreasonably held in jail. Wealthy people could get out of jail with the bail money that they had, while poor people would have a more difficult time. The second part of the 8th Amendment forbids the cruel and unusual punishment of criminals. For example, if someone stole a textbook, they can not be sentenced to death.



=Current Event 1= By Mario Two convicted criminals, Ralph Baze and Thomas Clyde, asked not to be sentenced to death by lethal injections. Their lawyers said that the punishment violated that portion of the Eighth Amendment dealing with cruel and unusual punishment. They argued that the punishment was cruel because people that were sentenced to this penalty went through a lot of pain. There are three injections in the process. The first one, **barbituate**, is supposed to knock the person out and prevent the person from feeling pain, but in some cases the first injection has not worked, causing the criminal to sustain a serious amount of pain. The United States Supreme Court is now deciding whether the three injections constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

There is a risk of violating the Eighth Amendment when lethal injections are given because the criminal might suffer excessive pain before dying. The Supreme Court cannot risk something as important as a person having to go through severe pain even though that person committed a felony. It would violate the Eighth Amendment and would be very inhumane. The criminals should be sentenced to death or another severe punishment but not in a way that would give Baze and Clyde large amounts of pain. The Eighth Amendment forbids cruel and unusual punishments and to many people lethal injections are considered to be a cruel and unusual punishment.

Link to article of Death Penalty: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=2&sid=1&srchmode=1&vinst=PROD&fnt=3&star

=Current Event 2= By Robert

In state after state, defense lawyers contend that the execution methods inflict unnecessary pain to death row prisoners. The lawyers also often complain that judges have denied them access to crucial information, including the identity of executioners and details about the drug cocktail used in the fatal injections. State officials have successfully argued that releasing such information could compromise prison security and the safety of personnel. However, lawyers for death row inmates say the restrictions have hampered their efforts to question not only the drugs, but how they are administered. They say lethal injection is carried out by sloppy, untrained prison personnel unqualified to conduct the sophisticated medical procedure. During a 2006 execution in Florida, for example, __Angel Nieves Diaz, 55__, appeared to grimace in pain and struggle for breath for half an hour until a second round of lethal drugs was administered. Yet lawyers for death row inmates still were not allowed to question the execution team. The nation's highest court will hear oral arguments in a Kentucky case. At issue is whether the execution method, which is a three chemical formula, violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The stakes are high: Executions across the country have been on a de facto moratorium since the Supreme Court agreed in September to consider the issue. "What we know about how states and the federal government currently execute people in the United States is deeply troubling," Alison J. Nathan, a Fordham University law professor, wrote in an article recently published online in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. "But the real danger of lethal injection, as currently practiced, lies in what we do not know." It is not clear whether access to information will be discussed during the hearing, although, legal experts said it could come up when justices question the lawyers.

Rob's Opinion- I think that the defense lawyers are right, judges do not have the right to inflict unnecessary to death row prisoners. For example, Angel Nieves Diaz eas accused of killing 4 people. He was accused guilty but many people say that he was innocent. When he was taken a lethal injection for the first half an hour he was struggling to breathe. Then the second round of the injections was administered so he stopped breathing completely.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501499.html

=Current Event 3= by Katherine

Prosecuters announced late on Wednesday that the Houston mother, Andrea Pia Yates at the age of 37, will possibly face the death penalty or life in prison after drowning her five children. Noah 7,John 5,Paul 3,Luke 2, and Mary 6 months. Mrs.Yates has admitted that she killed sons Paul and Luke. Russel Yates, Andreas husband,does not want to see his wife get the death penalty.Andrea Yates pleaded that she was insane and that is why she killed her children. Later a court appointed pyschiatrist found that Mrs.Yates could stand trial, meaning that she is not insane and can attend court.Theb attorney for the State of Texas have not yet decided if they will seek the the death penalty if found guilty.

Katherines Opinion: Even though the court hasen't proved that she killed sons, Noah,John,and only daughter Mary Andrea, should get the death penalty because she killed her own two sons Paul and Luke;Andrea admitted to killing them.

=Cruel and Unusual Punishment=

The strongest argument against using capital punishment for retributive purposes is cruel and unusual punishment. The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution, condemning cruel and unusual punishment, is used to protest capital punishment. The fallacy of this argument is that it appears to be a red herring argument, which is one that takes attention away from the facts of the case. When the constitution was drafted, capital punishment was practiced widely in this country, yet it was not specified as wrong or as cruel and unusual. Many of the framers of the constitution endorsed capital punishment, as did philosophers from which the constitution draws from. Now, in the present, the Supreme Court is arguing on whether or not capital punishment is constitutional. There have been many cases that had to deal with this argument. The most recent argument in the case in Kentucky (Baze vs. Rees) argues that the actual lethal injection is a three part dosage of chemicals. The concoction is made up of an anesthetic, a paralyzing agent, and a heart- stopping drug. The reason this may be considred cruel and unusual punishment is that if poorly trained personnel fail to administer the proper dose of the anesthetic, the condemned will feel searing pain since he will be conscious but paralyzed when the heart stopping drug flows through his veins. In the more broad argument of whether capital punishment is considered cruel and unusual punishment, depends on whom you talk to. Some people feel that it is a violation of a person's right to life and that it dehumanizes the judicial process. In addition it fails in giving the imprisoned time to rehabilitate and redeem himself. Others feel that capital punishment is not a cruel and unusual punishment but justifiable since the death penalty is right by nature. This is based on the grounds that retribution against the violator of another life is "just". If the cirme was not carried out by the death penalty it would be unjust and without this proper retribution is would further brutalize the victim and his/her family which is considered a second victimization.

__Death Sentencing__
The number of death sentencing has decreased a large amount over the past 8 years.


 * Year || 1993 || 1994 || 1995 || 1996 || 1997 || 1998 || 1999 || 2000 || 2001 || 2002 || 2003 || 2004 || 2005 || 2006 || 2007 ||
 * Sentences || 287 || 315 || 326 || 323 || 281 || 306 || 284 || 235 || 167 || 169 || 153 || 140 || 138 || 115 || 110* ||

Link for death penalty: http://www.wlky.com/video/14993638/index.html

= = =Excessive Bail and Excessive Fines=

One of the many important things in the 8th admendment is excessive bail. Excessive bail gives the criminals a chance to give money to the court to get out of jail. Sometimes these bail amounts are so high they can reach millions or even billions of dollars. The high amounts prevent the criminal from making bail; this means that it tells the criminal and the court that they will be back for trial. Another reason to set bail so high is to insure that the criminal will not run away before the trial. The Eighth Amendment also prohibits the imposition of excessive fines on people who have been convicted of a crime. The courts can not assign the accused and excessive amount for bail. if they could, then a judge might look at someone and decide they look guilty and make the bail 10 million dollars. Bail is a sum of money or property given to the court as a promise that the accused will return for their trial. if the accused fails to show up for their trial, they lose their bail. It is also assigned on the type of crime commited and the likelihood that the accused will return for their trial. The greater the seriousness of the crime, the higher the bail. Bail allows time for the accused to prepare for their defense, which is hard to do while in jail. Many people accused of a crime do not have the money for bail so they get a bail bondsman. The bondsman provids the money for bail (for a fee), and may send a bounty hunter to find the bailer of they "skip" town and does not show up for the trial, which causes the bail bondsman to lose money.